Page 137 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

Two pierced lead objects were recovered from the plowzone over the archaeological remnants of the 20 by 40 foot storehouse. The purpose of these created objects remains unknown. It is possible that they served as weights or perhaps some oth- er mundane function. More intriguing are those artifacts recovered from the subfloor pit in the southwest corner of the storehouse.
The subfloor pit contained a layer of fill with nearly 300 pipe stems burying a group of objects that appear to have been intentionally placed in the pit. A door staple was found on top of a single upside down pewter plate. Directly below this plate were a round lead disk, a quartz pro- jectile tip, two nails, and several volcanic stones indigenous to the piedmont of Maryland. As a group, the artifacts within this feature have been interpreted elsewhere as a form of cultural ex- pression.46 Witch bottles, axes, and other objects were often buried next to a doorway threshold or hearth to protect the house, or perhaps as a malevolent device. Versions of this practice were common in European and African contexts. In this case, the types of artifacts are more consistent with an African or creole cultural expression.
Conclusion and Implications
So what conclusions can be gleaned from the considerable historical and archaeological data on Charles Town? As much as we would like to tie the archaeological record to those individuals known to have been associated with the town, much of the material remnants of Charles Town remain anonymous. This is so because of the tran- sient nature of the population, difficulties with determining tenancy, and the problem of not having an existing plat to work from. A firm interpretation of how the town functioned is possible, however, by triangulating between the available historical and archaeological data.
First, wealthy and politically connected grandees guided the placement of the town at Mount Calvert and controlled much of the land, commerce, and service industry while the court remained at the locale. James Stoddert, Josiah Wilson, and Robert Bradley speculated on the future of Charles Town as a courthouse town. As his prospects dwindled, Stoddert moved to the Potomac side of the county while setting his sights on provincial politics. Charles Town was a convenient base of operations for the emerg- ing Prince George’s gentry as they controlled the
cultivation of the rich tobacco soils along the Patuxent drainage while simultaneously cultivat- ing their relationships with the influential London tobacco houses. Perhaps, the wave of bankruptcies that swept away the operation of the Carltons and other firms in the 1710s reverberated with their overseas agents like Bradley and Stoddert. Under- standing the gentry’s role in the relationship be- tween local and global trade networks, the rise of the local independent merchant class, and chang- ing flow of goods and services through the county during the eighteenth century will continue to be important for interpreting the development of towns in the early modern Chesapeake.
Second, the only sustained businesses with- in the town were the ordinaries and stores. The ordinaries served as dwellings for keepers, pro- vided needed sustenance and lodging for visi- tors, and were a main social gathering point for people within the town. An earlier generation of scholars would call these places “service cen- ters” or “proto-towns.”47 These characterizations are not incorrect. More importantly, however, is
the fact that places like Charles Town served a need that could scarcely be filled by a planta- tion. The public places where people gathered to drink, smoke, and socialize mattered in the early Chesapeake. Charles Town in Prince George’s County, Calverton in Calvert County, and dozens of other places throughout the region were agreed upon staging grounds for the con- struction of social relations that bound residents together as a community. Stores and ordinaries were integral to this process.
Third, the same buildings were used by subsequent ordinary keepers and in most cases
figure 17
Blue glass beads recovered from the large borrow pit
at Terrace Site A, Structure F.
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